Encyclopaedia of Tantra (Set

pp. 2100, Figures, Illus. Tantra (Sanskrit, "web" or "warp" a body of esoteric Hindu and Buddhist religious texts and rituals. The Hindu Tantras were written after the Purana [more]

pp. 2100, Figures, Illus. Tantra (Sanskrit, "web" or "warp" a body of esoteric Hindu and Buddhist religious texts and rituals. The Hindu Tantras were written after the Puranas, in the medieval period, and are usually set in the form of a dialogue between the God Shiva and his consort Parvati, in which he explains to her the philosophy and myths underlying the Tantric ritual. They emphasize the Goddess Shakti as the female power or energy of the God. This view taken to its extreme holds that Shiva with out Shakti is like a corpse. The Tantric rituals involve rituals involve rituals involve psychosexual energy-the cur.[less]